This invention relates to the field of nuclear waste mangagement, and more particularly, to a disposable rabbit for use in pneumatic transfer systems.
A rabbit is a small container which is usually moved pneumatically for transferring radioactive samples (usually contained in a septum bottle) in an atomic energy plant or laboratory. Present rabbits are made of high density polyethylene which is difficult to compact. The polyethylene rabbits are fairly expensive initially and may require decontamination between uses. Since decontamination is not always effective, there is the possiblity of sample contamination and erroneous analytical results with the reuseable rabbits. In a plant using a large number of rabbits, disposal of contaminated non-reuseable rabbits presents a significant waste management problem due to the very large cost associated with that operation.
The polyethylene rabbits have a fixed opening to receive the sample bottles and require additional packing material to prevent movement of the sample bottle during a transfer. After use, the packing material must be carefully removed so as not to damage the sample and becomes additional solid waste for disposal. The polethylene rabbit also has a friction lid which requires a special tool for removal.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rabbit that can be disposed of without the need for compaction.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a rabbit that can be used once and discarded with a significant reduction in waste disposal costs and efforts.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a rabbit that will safely hold a sample without additional packing material and requires no special tools for removal of the sample.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method of managing the transfer of radioactive samples in a manner that minimizes the amount of nuclear waste.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention.